Members of the Brazilian Kaiapos tribe who successfully assimilated into modern society doing a traditional dance last year in protest to a power plant being built near their land.Source: AFP

FOR the first time in nearly two decades, the Brazilian government has come in contact with a previously isolated tribe after the indigenous group fled from illegal Amazon logging.

According to Brazil’s indigenous affairs department, the contact was made last weekend somewhere near the Peru-Brazil border. This is the first contact with an indigenous isolated tribe by the government since 1996.

The tribe has no known name, and it is still not clear what language they speak, Kayla Wieche, a spokeswoman for Survival International told Vice.

What is known, is that this contact almost certainly means doom for the tribe as their bodies can’t handle common modern virus’ and they die out.

This picture released in 2008 shows members of a recently discovered indigenous tribe, with their bodies painted in bright red. The tribe has always been tracked, but never come in contact with Brazilian officials.Source: AFP

A report came out in April of this year which showed that of the 238 indigenous tribes that were found in the past few decades, only between 23 and 70 of them were still living.

“Our analysis dramatically quantifies the devastating effects of European colonisation on indigenous Amazonians. Not only did 75 per cent of indigenous societies in the Brazilian Amazon become extinct, but of the survivors, all show evidence of catastrophic population declines, the vast majority with mortality rates over 80 per cent,” Marc Hamilton wrote in the paper published by Scientific Reports.

With over 90 per cent of Peru’s mahogany exports believed to come from illegal logging within the Amazon, it’s tragically only a matter of time before more indigenous tribes are forced to leave their homes and come in contact with the rest of humanity.

Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights, is trying to protect these tribes.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, “International borders don’t exist for uncontacted tribes, which is why Peru and Brazil must work together to prevent lives being lost. Throughout history, uncontacted peoples have been destroyed when their land is invaded, and so it’s vital that these Indians’ territory is properly protected. Both governments must act now if their uncontacted citizens are to survive.”

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